North Texas Dentistry Volume 10 Issue 1 2020 ISSUE 1 DE | Page 5

Texas A&M College of Dentistry
A NEW HOME
January 2020 opening of new clinical building takes patient care to next level
by LaDawn Brock
advanced technology, specialized clinics,
clinical support areas, classrooms and
study spaces—is the first stand-alone
building constructed for the dental
school since 1950. Long-needed, dental-
school-specific patient parking will be
available on the first three levels of the
new structure.
The start of 2020 ushered in a
new era in dental education for
Texas A&M College of Dentistry.
The opening of the college’s new
160,000-square-foot, nine-story Clinic
and Education Building will enable the
dental school to increase underserved
patients’ access to care and shift from a
traditional disciplined-based approach
to a “whole health” educational model.
To celebrate this milestone, Texas A&M
University System officials, Texas state
legislators, Dallas officials and leaders in
organized dentistry were among the
more than 600 attendees who joined the
College of Dentistry dean to dedicate the
new structure Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020.
The new building—featuring nearly 300
dental-chair stations with the most
“Patients and students are at the heart of
what we do,” said Dr. Lawrence E. Wolinsky,
Dean. “The new clinical building is truly
going to help the college meet the ever-
expanding need for reputable patient-
centered care in a compassionate
environment. Our students will gain a
unique learning experience that will ben-
efit them throughout their professional
careers.”
The college currently hosts over 100,000
patient visits per year, however efficien-
cies created with the new curriculum and
the new building provide opportunities
for an increase in the number of patient
encounters for each student and the abil-
ity to provide a greater volume of oral
health care to more patients. To address
the shortage of dental health care
providers in the state’s underserved
areas, the dental school’s goal is to
increase enrollment while maintaining
its position as one of the nation’s most
diverse dental schools.
Construction of the new $127-million
facility was completed at the end of 2019.
Approximately $72-million of the build-
ing’s estimated cost came from approval
for bond authority that the A&M Health
Science Center received from the Texas
Legislature during the 2015 session.
“This is an exciting time as we reach a
new milestone in the history of the
College of Dentistry,” Wolinsky said.
Texas A&M College of Dentistry (formerly
Baylor College of Dentistry) in Dallas is a part of
Texas A&M University and Texas A&M Health Sci-
ence Center. Founded in 1905, the College of
Dentistry is a nationally recognized center for oral
health sciences education, research, specialized
patient care and continuing dental education.
Learn more at dentistryinsider.tamhsc.edu or
follow @TAMUdental.
LaDawn Brock is marketing, web and media re-
lations manager at Texas A&M College of Den-
tistry in Dallas. A 1991 mass communications
(public relations) graduate of Texas Woman’s
University, she has worked in communications
for 28 years.
www.northtexasdentistry.com | NORTH TEXAS DENTISTRY
5